wfn.org | WCC DOV festival in Tanzania

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release PR-01-36
For Immediate Use
4 October 2001

DOV festival in Tanzania takes up challenges after 11 September
attacks

The September 11 attacks in the USA have had an impact on the
programme of a Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) festival to be
held in Moshi, Tanzania from 6-10 October. According to DOV
coordinator Deenabandhu Manchala, "Taking place amidst rumours of
war, the DOV festival in Moshi will need to focus on issues
arising in the aftermath of the events in New York and
Washington".

"The terrorist attacks have compelled... discussion on how
security for the north has been made a global concern. In light
of the legacies of the past millennium, we also need to interpret
the implications from the perspective of the south ," Manchala
explains. 

Recognising that "the churches have a political and prophetic
role to play in situations where state policies cause enormous
suffering and death to many innocent people," the DOV coordinator
called on churches "to opt for nonviolent ways of ensuring
security and peace".

More than 100 participants throughout the world and local
communities are expected to attend the Moshi festival, whose
theme is "Ondoa Ukatili: Cultivating a Culture of Peace with
Justice". Ondoa Ukatili is a Swahili word meaning ending
violence.

"Ondoa Ukatili will be a time for sharing experiences and hopes
to uphold justice and peace in a world gripped by a persistent
culture of violence. It will create an opportunity for dialogue
with the cultures and experiences of the people of Africa," says
Manchala.

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Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010)

At the Eighth Assembly of the WCC in Harare, Zimbabwe, delegates
representing more than 300 WCC member churches brought the Decade
to Overcome Violence (DOV) into being. The Assembly declared that
on issues of non-violence and reconciliation, the WCC should
"work strategically with the churches... to create a culture of
non-violence". The Decade, which was launched world-wide in
February 2001, will build on already existing initiatives around
the world, and offer a forum for sharing experiences and
establishing relationships so as to learn from one another.
------

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer,
Tel.:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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